GAZA - Palestinian rivals postponed the formation of a unity government to resolve as many obstacles as possible before Dec 20, officials from Hamas and Fatah movements said Saturday.

Amin Maqboul, an official of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said that the two movements will start implementing the articles of a reconciliation agreement that Egypt has brokered in May.

On Thursday, Abbas met Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas' politburo, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. But they failed to agree on the first article of the agreement: forming a government to rule the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank until elections.

Maqboul said that the "will and determination" that Abbas and Mashaal showed in their meeting "was enough to overcome obstacles related to all the details of the agreement, including the formation of the unity government."

They agreed to hold elections in May 2012, as scheduled in the Cairo agreement, end politically-motivated arrests and stop attacking each other on the media. The two leaders will meet again on December 20.

Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official, said that the discussions to form a government will also include all other Palestinian factions so Hamas and Fatah will not be accused of sharing power alone.

Al-Bardaweel and Maqboul denied reports that the two movements consider keeping Hamas' administration in Gaza and the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad until the elections.

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